How to Organize Recipes

While simple folders and files may be sufficient for some people, others may want to explore the variety of software options available. Many software providers have an online presence that allows you to not only find new recipes, but also to search for specific recipes or manage grocery lists. There are many software options available, but here's a short list to get you started:

BigOven - BigOven (Windows, iPhone, Palm OS) has both a software product and an online presence. With the software to manage and organize your own recipes, you can also log in to save and share recipes, make grocery lists and create meal plans [source: BigOven].

TheRecipeManager - TheRecipeManager (Windows, Mac) offers many of the same features as other programs, such as recipe sharing and meal planning, as well as a way to track your blood sugar, blood pressure, weight and exercise [source: TheRecipeManager].

Cook'n - Cook'n (Windows) is a software product that, in addition to basic recipe organization, can assist in meal planning by adjusting the serving size of recipes, finding the nutritional value of recipes and creating shopping lists [source: Cook'n].

For more information on how to organize you recipes, both print and digital, see the links on the next page.

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Online Only

If you don't want to buy software, there are several online-only options, such as One tsp (onetsp.com), Recipe Thing (recipething.com), All Recipes (allrecipes.com) and Epicurious (epicurious.com). These sites are free to use and allow you to keep a virtual "recipe box." In addition to saving recipes, some sites allow you to upload and add your own recipes to your virtual recipe box [sources: one tsp., Gourmet file, Epicurious.com].